Character Worldview & The Christian Worldview Assessment

Created by Daniel Schmitter.

Literary Device Evaluation

          The air was thick, a slow moving syrup ready to crust.  This is an example of a metaphor.  Metaphors are used in many novels to make them more appealing.  With metaphors you can really picture the imagery the author is trying to present to the reader.  Zora Hurston uses many metaphors in her novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”  The metaphors Hurston uses are important because they better help the reader understand, either a character, setting, and even plot.  
  At the very beginning of the novel, a bunch of Eatonville men are sitting on the porch and Janie’s physical appearance is described.  “The men noticed her firm buttocks like she had grapefruits in her hip pockets; the great rope of black hair swinging to her waist and unraveling in the wind like a plume” (Hurston 2).  I think that this metaphor is extremely important in this book because it really helps the reader understand Janie’s physical appearance and what others think of her.  In the book it often says Janie was known for her good looks.  “Ah see you is.  Gal, you sho looks good.  You looks like youse yo own daughter” (4).  Having this knowledge gives the reader a better understanding of Janie’s character.

          While Janie lies in her backyard under a pear tree she sees a “bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight.  So this was a marriage! (11).   Janie thinks that this connection between the bee and the flower must be the same with humans.  Janie longs for this intimacy and wishes “to be a pear tree-any tree in bloom! (11).  This metaphor shows Janie’s correspondence between human sexual intercourse and the bees pollinating.  Janie finds this piece missing in her marriages with Joe and Logan but finally it occurs to her in her relationship with Tea Cake.  I think this metaphor, again, helps readers understand Janie better as a character.  They see her point of view, what she’s struggling with, and as a reader, one gets to just get deep into Janie’s thoughts and discover what she is thinking. 

  Janie’s grandmother is an interesting character.  When Janie and she are discussing Logan, she makes a comparison between mules and “De nigger woman” (14).  I think this metaphor is really powerful and important in this novel.  I think this is so great because both of Janie’s first two husbands own mules and the way that the mules are treated corresponds to the way that the men treat Janie.  Logan is very demanding towards his mule, as is he to Janie.  Joe puts his mule out as more of a status symbol.  Joe uses Janie as a status symbol while he strives to lead the community as mayor.  

  "The store itself was a pleasant place if only she didn't have to sell things. When the people sat around on the porch and passed around the pictures of their thoughts for the others to look at and see, it was nice. The fact that the thought pictures were always crayon enlargements of life made it even nicer to listen to” (51).  I think that this metaphor is very effective in the way that it shows Janie’s interest in the small talk conversations which were so popular during those times.  I think this metaphor is also very fitting because Hurston was an anthropologist gathering folktales.  This metaphor helps the reader get a better feel for Janie’s perspective on life.  

  As readers, we are not revealed the meaning behind the title until chapter 18.  The title is brought up as the hurricane strikes the Everglades.  Several men decide to stay at Tea Cakes house, but as the storm comes closer they flee to their own homes.  One man, Motor Boat, stays.  The storm continues to worsen and God is all they have left.   “The wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light for the last time. They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God” (160).  This is such a powerful part in the book and wraps everything together.  Throughout the whole novel, Hurston really implies God’s will.  It provides all characters with a bit of fate as well as destiny.  I think that this metaphor really just puts everything in perspective as a reader and goes to show how awesome our God really is!

  Throughout the novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Hurston uses many metaphors to really engage the readers in a sense of plot, setting and especially character.  With the metaphors used, the reader can really visualize the words Hurston writes and imagine the different things that are being portrayed such as Janie’s character as well as others characters too.  I think that overall metaphors, especially in this novel, play an important role in helping readers to understand and really imagine what the author is implying.  

Written by Kaitlyn Yoerg